HUNTLEY -- Brian Allen knew what to expect should his side fail to answer the bell in its Fox Valley Conference Valley Division with Huntley, and 25 minutes after the opening whistle, the Crystal Lake South manager had seen enough to know his lads were not ready for the Red Raiders.

The Gators ultimately proved no match for their clinical opponents, who took control with three goals in 18 minutes before the half hour, to earn a well-deserved 5-1 victory that will force Allen's men to work if they want to grab a share of the FVC Valley crown with one week to go in the regular season.

"We knew coming here tonight that we would run into a big, strong, athletic opponent, one that can knock it around really well on their turf through a couple of very good, and speedy midfielders - so the message was, and always is (that) you better bring your 'A' game, or your in for a long, long night," said a disappointed Allen, who proved to be a prophet Allen after watching his lads suffer their first conference defeat, with just McHenry remaining on its league schedule.

"The effort seemed fine at the start, but after a nice beginning, we seemed to check out at several spots out there, and all three of those first half goals were conceded far too easily through either mental, or physical lapses, which is something we now need to address and correct with the state tournament about to begin in a week and a half."

The Gators (9-6-3, 3-1-0) looked to be on the front foot during the early exchanges in the eyes of sophomore, Nikolas Getzinger, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, in addition to Huntley manager, Kris Grabner, who was quickly convinced his guests had come ready to play on a night where a Gators' win would clinch a second-consecutive division crown.

"They hit us hard in the first five minutes (like) a punch to the kidneys, but that first goal from Travis (Walsh) seemed to ignite us, and really get everyone up and running," said Grabner. "Not only was I thrilled with our first 15-20 minutes of play tonight, but also the entire 80 minutes. It may have been our best effort of the season thus far."

Crystal Lake South did not expect the numbers to be so heavily tilted to the home side of the scoreboard.

"I never felt like we didn't come ready to play. Not during warmups inside (the start of the match was delayed 45 minutes due to lightning in the area) - or when we finally came outside and when we warmed up in the stadium," began the sophomore Getzinger.

"Huntley looked and played so much quicker than we did - maybe because they play on turf nearly all of the time, and we don't. But that wasn't an excuse for the way we played - they were just better than us."

Skyler Pentico was nearly on the end of a wonderful serve to the back post inside two minutes for the Gators, but soon thereafter, disaster struck for the visitors, when they gave away possession in the midfield, before allowing the aforementioned Walsh time and space, and a shot from the edge of the area to find the back of the net at 6 minutes.

That speed and quickness in which Getzinger spoke of was now in full display by the home side, who played the width of its park to near perfection, while creating several half, and full chances, leading up to Michael Zembrzuski's strike at 16 minutes to double the Red Raiders advantage.

"We came out flat the other day to Dundee-Crown, and it cost us when we lost in PKs," admitted Zembrzuski, who was one of three Huntley captains to score on this night.

"After a little bit of a slow start, we really played the way that we're capable of playing. Although those two losses we have in conference likely mean we can't win the division, there's no doubt in my mind we can have a big postseason run."

The Red Raiders (11-5-1, 2-2-0) would give away the ball in its own end with a poorly struck square ball, which led to Andrew Grabowski having a go at keeper Michael Parks at 18 minutes, that Pentico followed moments later with a well-aimed attempt on frame that Parks stopped.

Those two chances were all the Gators could manufacture as the visitors were lacking in attacking menace and creativity, and it wasn't long before Allens' club was chasing three goals when Max Walsh went up to head an Allesandro Vergara looping serve at 24 minutes.

"When you give free looks to a quality opponent like Huntley, your going to get punished for it, and we took a beating on those three goals," bemoaned Allen.

Getzinger would be rewarded for his work rate up until this point by driving in the first and only goal of the night for the Gators less than sixty seconds after the Max Walsh strike.Next, Jake Canfield's enterprising run up the right side set free Marcin Sliwinski, but the sophomore likely shot too soon, as he steered his shot easily towards Parks in the 29th minute.

Allen brought in sophomore Brian Gorka between the sticks for starter, Spencer Traub, and his work for the next fifty-plus minutes was solid, despite having two Red Raider attempts end up in the back of the net.

The Gators lost fine young midfielder Nick Langdon to an injury just before intermission, and the freshmen was forced to be a spectator for the rest of the match.

South, to its credit, came out aggressively to begin the second half, creating a corner from Pentico, whose inward swinger was headed wide by Getzinger.

Kyle Carberry made it 4-1 in the 53rd minute when he too was left unmarked.

"We all feel real good about this result tonight, and I know we can continue playing like this from here on out," said Carberry, one of three who wear the captains' armband for Grabner.

The coach is also optimistic.

"We've played well for the most part against good competition," said Grabner. "losing in PKs to Saint Viator, giving up a goal with 4.7 second left to Jacobs - so I am not surprised to see us play at the level we did tonight against the division leader in our conference."

Despite the three-goal deficit, the Gators did not fold, or just play out the remaining time left on the scoreboard as if it were a scrimmage. Getzinger stood out with his impressive box-to-box effort, as did Grabowski, the Gators leading scorer, who ran hard at the Huntley backline with the hope of forcing a mistake or two.

Senior Kennan Grissom showed plenty of pace, and a nice left-footed touch on several of his serves into the Red Raiders box, as he searched for teammates who might run onto a a few of his helpers.

"Whether it was a 2-1, 5-1 or 10-1 loss - it's a loss. That part of tonight doesn't matter as it's over, and we put it behind us for good," began Allen.

"What does matter is where our mental character is at."

"We have a nonconference game at Glenbrook North this Saturday, and we have to pull ourselves together, and get right back at it as soon as we can. After that, we might have our last divisional game with McHenry, if the school strike is settled, and THAT game becomes very important, as it could decide if we share, or even win the title outright with a win."

Once that is settled, the Gators will finish the regular season at Hononegah on October 13, before heading to the DeKalb Regional, where it was annointed the No. 1 seed.

"We'll keep our heads up after this loss, and get ourselves back and ready to go for our next game, because we know we can play so much better than we did tonight," said Getzinger.